I attended the Auburn City Council meeting Sept. 8, and it was apparent to me that Mayor Normand Guay worked very hard on his speech addressed to Councilman Bob Mennealy, in which the mayor and three councilmen publicly scolded Mennealy for asking that City Manager Patricia Finnigan be investigated by the attorney general’s office.

Guay stated that personnel issues are private and should be handled behind closed doors and out of the public’s eye. It is my opinion that Mennealy is also an employee of the city, serving as a councilman. Therefore, Guay’s admonishment of the councilman should have been conducted behind closed doors.

It was also very apparent to the audience that several of the city’s councilors had worked together as a group to chastise Mennealy. Other council members arrived equipped with a book about Stalin, researched the Internet about McCarthy and all referenced the McCarthy era.

Maybe the way in which Mennealy went about this process does not follow protocol, but the man believes in what he is doing and willing to lay it on the line and did so for the truth to be sought.

The Council members asking for the resignation of Mennealy were wrong. I was one of the many in the audience that applauded Mennealy’s statement that he would not resign. Councilman Richard Livingston exploded upon hearing the applause, yelled at the applauding audience and for that, I am sorry that he is my representative.

Paul “Bud” Caouette, Auburn